AIR TRANSPORT
Clark-Norman Triloader is aimed at the utility freight-transport market
Norman floats Triloader freighter
AFTER TASTING success with the Islander/Trislander
series of light multi-purpose air
craft, and failure with his subse
quent Firecracker and Field-
master models, UK design veteran
Desmond Norman is trying again.
His latest project, in which he
is teamed with ex-Hawker
employee Alec Clark in Clark-
Norman Aircraft, is the Triloadcr.
a larger, but not dissimilar, air
craft to the BN-2 Mklll
Trislander, aimed at the utility
freight-transport market.
With an engine configuration
almost identical to that of the
Trislander but with three 45()kW
(600hp) turboprops, the 8,530kg
low-cost, short-range, aircraft
could be flown in August 1997 and
be certificated by December 1998,
according to Clark.
Design and construction of a
prototype will be undertaken at
Sandown, Isle of Wight, while
negotiations for series production
of the Triloader are already under
way with a European manufacturer.
Preliminary performance figures
indicate a take-off run at sea level
of just 740ft (225m); long-range
cruise speed of 155kt (290km/h);
and a range of 580km (315nm)
with a payload of 3,000kg.
The large hold can accommo
date up to five LD3 containers.
Side doors are proposed for pal
letised cargo and a front-loading
door for containers and bulky
goods. Wingspan is 24.4m and
length 19.05m. Q
BA reports on Oporto near-collision
ABRITISH AIRWAYS Boe ing 737 avoided a head-on
collision with a TAP Air
Portugal Airbus A340 in May.
The 737 took off rapidly from
runway 17 at Oporto, Portugal,
on 4 May, having seen that the
A340 was on short finals for the
NEWS IN BRIEF
• EUROSKY GOES EAST
EuroSky, Austria's newest air
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The airline also plans to fly to
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operations to more Central
European destinations.
same runway in the opposite
direction.
The A340 carried out a touch-
and-go landing on the runway
(35) just after the 737 had left.
Portuguese civil-aviation author
ities are investigating the event.
The BA report of the incident
says that air-traffic control
(ATC) had not made the crew
aware of the A340's position or
the TAP crew's intentions, but
had advised the 737 crew, when
it was at 5.5km (3nm) on finals
for 17, to carry out a right turn
on to 270° (a starboard turn
through 100°) in the event of a
missed approach. Oporto ATC
has no radar and was relying
upon distance-measuring-equip
ment reports from the aircraft,
to monitor progress.
The UK Civil Aviation
Authority says that it is awaiting the
Portuguese report on die event. 3
China is poised to
receive its first A320
PAUL LEWIS/SINGAPORE
SICHUAN AIRLINES IS expected to take delivery of its,
first Airbus Industrie A320 by
the end of July, following recent
certification of the aircraft by the
Civil Aviation Administration of
China (CAAC).
The airline still requires final
approval from China's State
Planning Commission to operate
the aircraft, but this is under
stood to be a formality and "...is
expected imminently", says a
company official. Sichuan will be
the first airline in China to oper
ate the 150-seat twinjet. A fur
ther two International Aero
Engines V2500-powered aircraft
are due to enter service before
the end of the year.
International Lease Finance
signed a deal in March with
China Aircraft Supplies to lease
three A320s to Sichuan. The
CAAC, however, had put the
agreement on hold until it was
satisfied that the Chengdu-based
carrier was ready to operate the
flv-by-wire aircraft (Flight
International, 3-9 May).
The A320 is needed as a
replacement for Sichuan's fleet of
six Tupolev Tu-154Ms. The air
craft will initially be used on the
domestic airline's trunk route
between Chengdu and Beijing. J
FANS datalink component
becomes operational
APROTOTYPE OF the new oceanic-sector workstation —
die controller's link to the Future
Air Navigation System (FANS) —
is now in operational testing at the
US Federal Aviation Admini
stration's Oakland, California, air-
route traffic-control centre.
The workstation, called the
telecommunications processor,
represents the first phase of the
aviation agency's oceanic-datalink
(ODL) programme. The proto
type provides controllers with an
improved capability to manage
flightplan data, aircraft-position
reports and flight-service data.
The unit replaces the flight-data
input/output subsystem which
dates back to the 1960s.
The workstation uses an IBM
commercial off-the-shelf operat
ing system and allows for further
software enhancements. The
telecommunications processor
was initially installed for testing at
the FAA technical centre in
Atlantic City, New Jersey. It is
scheduled for installation at the
New York air-route traffic-control
centre later this vear.
After single-sector testing, the
prototype ODL will begin to be
used to handle multiple sectors at
Oakland. The tests will allow the
FAA to refine a production unit
which will be implemented as part
of the FAA's advanced oceanic
automation system. The produc
tion unit will eventually provide
automatic dependent surveillance
and reduced separation standards
over oceanic airspace.
The controller workstation is
being developed together with
an aircraft system produced by
Boeing and Honeywell. Known
as the FANS-1, the onboard
avionics package uses two-way
satellite communications to pro
vide accurate and direct pilot-to-
controller information exchange
over oceans and remote areas
normally out of range of ground-
based stations. The FAA and air
lines are now running FANS-1
operational trials.
Through the computer dis
play, controllers can link to
FANS-1-equipped aircraft, ex
changing messages over the
satellite network. J
12 FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL 2 - 8 August 1995